"March 18, 1974: It, from inside me, looked out and saw the world did not compute, that I - and it - had been lied to. It denied the reality, and power, and authenticity of the world, saying, 'This cannot exist; it cannot exist.'" Philip K. Dick, Exegesis

In February 1974 Philip K. Dick was going through yet another difficult period in his life. Despite the success of his first published novel since 1970, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, he suffered from frequent bouts of depression and was living in constant fear of the IRS and the ruling authorities. His new family responsibilty (wife Tessa and baby Christopher) aggravated his fears of poverty.

That February PKD was also suffering from an impacted wisdom tooth: During oral surgery on February 19 he was administered sodium pentothal. When the effect of the procaine wore off he spent the night in pain. The following day he phoned his doctor for a pain reliever - Darvon-N - which was to be delivered to his door by the local pharmacy.

As PKD recounts in Radio Free Albemuth (as alter ego Nicholas Brady):

"Still woozy from the pain, Nicholas made his way to the door and opened it. A girl stood there with heavy black hair, hair so black that the coils of it seemed almost blue. She wore an absolutely white uniform. Around her neck he saw a gold necklace, with a gold fish suspended between links of golden chain. Fascinated, staring at the necklace in a hypnoidal twilight stae, Nicholas could not speak.
'Eight forty-two', the girl said.
Nicholas, as he handed her a ten, said, 'What – is that necklace?'
'An ancient sign,' the girl said, raising her left hand to point to the golden fish. 'Used by the early Christians.'"

Philip K. Dick, Radio Free Albemuth, p. 89

In interviews as well as in his Exegesis Dick indicates that this encounter was in fact the starting point to a series of transcendental experiences that kept occurring for well over the next year. He imagined himself in Ancient Rome as an early Christian, saw endless transmissions of abstract light pattern on his walls and a blinding pink light informed him of his son's potentially lethal birth defect.

For the remaining years of his life, Dick became a searching soul, scrutinizing his experiences and searching for an interpretation of these inexplicable manifestations.